Job Discussion Forums

[justin032]

Hi, I'm a first time poster but a long time lurker on these forums. It seems after reading through many posts there seems to be plenty of people that are negative about almost every aspect of EFL teaching...I certainly understand some of the reasons, in many places (especially many desirable locales) the pay is very low, "contracts" seem to be only honored when convenient for the employer, little respect etc.

It seems to me however (as someone with admittedly zero experience in the profession) that TEFL can provide an incredible base for skills both within an education career or for those who wish to eventually move on to something else. The ability to learn a second or third language for instance, or to run your own business as a freelancer seem to me very valuable skills that you could apply to any number of professions.

I would really like to know if anyone here or through second hand experience, can share their stories of what skills they have picked up as a TEFLer that have helped them move their careers along either within or beyond the profession. Conversely, for all those who think this is an arrogant post, please tell me why my theory of using TEFL as base to expand your skill set is a spurious one. Thanks!

[thrifty]

TEFLers tend to:
have little in the way of savings and poor access to credit.
have little experience in running a business since TEFLing is not running a business.
be discriminated against if they want to get into the state system or international schools since TEFLing is not regarded when it comes to pay scales or getting real training in education.
spend long hours in the classroom TEFLing.
learn a foreign language or two but rarely have the time and money to get degrees in that language and hence have picked it up. Jobs such as in translation typically want 4 year degrees in translation or at least a degree in two languages. It seems to be a myth that you can TEFL in Turkey for example, pick up the language and then get a job in Turkey or in Uk translating.
have little to put on their CV apart from TEFLing and businesses want to see concrete experience in business.
teach private lessons if that is what you mean by freelance and how does that translate to anything else apart from teaching private lessons?

[justin032]

Thrifty, thanks for the response and your points are well taken. I do realize teaching is a full time (and often more than full-time) job in many instances that limits your free time to do other things.

I got the impression that in certain countries like Mexico and Japan for instance, you can have an independent visa where you are exclusively doing private lessons. This would entail doing things like marketing, prospecting for new clients and building a client base, which is exactly what I am doing now in financial sales. Couple that with the ability to speak fluently in two or more languages and the additional cross-cultural experience you would eventually gain...it strikes me as fairly reasonable that you would have at least something to sell yourself by if one wanted to move into a different career path. Then again, I know nothing of the reality of the situation and perhaps am being far too optimistic...

[william wallace]

yada yada

[thrifty]

You have no idea how hard it is to survive economically and psychologically doing privates. How are you going to get a job in the real world when all you have been doing is running around after low level students who cancel, don't turn up etc. It is mind numbing doing private all day every day. Could I get your job with my CV?

[coffeedrinker]

I agree with a lot of the (albeit cynical) points above. But - while I think most employers don't look particularly favorably on tefl, I think you can gain valuable skills.

You might not get recognition for them so you need either to really explain them - or just wait til they come through in your work.

I think managing a classroom of adults, many or most of whom are "senior" to you in qualifications and so on, is a good skill - whether it is just people skills or tact when dealing with the mistakes of a "higher up". It's not rocket science but there is some amount of social skill needed if you are 25 and teaching an office of bank managers or something.

In the US at least, I think there are people who look at the ability to do anything at all in a foreign country as a unique skill (there are also those who don't care). Is it that unique? I don't think it's all that special but lots of Americans never do it.

While I agree with the above points that living off private lessons is bound to be a struggle, I think it might be something you could present to an employer in such a way as you describe (be honest, of course, but I think it's standard to frame your experience in the best possible light).

Maybe also important is how long you do it - for better or worse, it's my impression that employers in other fields will look on a one or two year tefl stint more favorably than a longer one.

[thrifty]

1 year is explainable.

[denise]

I haven't transferred out of TEFL (and don't intend to, other than eventually moving to ESL or teacher training...) BUT I would hope that such skills as proofreading, editing, public speaking, and cross-cultural communication would be valued, depending on what other careers you get into. Or if you do business English, preparing students to give presentations, write reports, etc. could be valuable.

Of course, it really depends on what sort of teaching you do. If all you do is conversation classes, you're really not getting experience with things like editing/proofreading, for example. I would imagine that people who spend several years moving from one conversation class/school to another would have a harder time selling their skills back home than people doing academic teaching, ESP, exam preparation, etc. But that's just a guess...

And we're not all negative! Some of us really like this job.

d

[Stephen Jones]

Honestly don't understand the question here.

If you're talking about the viability of transferring skills learnt TEFLing into the world of commerce, then research all the ex-Teflers now working as Masters of the Universe.

If you want moral backup to bullshit somebody else, future employer of spouse's family, nice try.

[thrifty]

[justin032]

My question mostly has to do with why so many people view TEFL as a dead end...for instance right now my job is fairly financially rewarding, but that's about all it is and ever will be. I work 50-60 hour weeks, leaving little time to pursue anything else. I just started taking a language course, but how realistic is it that i will ever become fluent in it devoting 1-2 hrs. per week? Whereas if I was in that country, even whilst spending most of my day teaching English, I know I would have a much better chance of becoming fluent. Also, regarding needing a "qualification" in order to have recognition for knowing a language--that's only academia...if you walk into a job interview for an international business, importer/exporter etc. do you think they'll care if you have a translation qualification? They only care that you can convincingly converse with customers in that language. If you're resigned to a life in academia, then yes, you most likely won't make much no matter what field you're in, unless you write a book or something...the point of my post (if there was one) was to point out all the opportunities teachers may or may not have for learning skills that could benefit them elsewhere.

[spiral78]

Ummm - actually, many corporate employers DO want their bilingual staff to have some paper credentials regarding their translation skills.

[thrifty]

50-60 hours a week-you will be doing that in TEFL if you want to make ends meet.

Try applying for a job in translation when all you have got is, I picked up the language whilst I was TEFLing.

Translating is a difficult job just like any other and it needs professional qualifications.

[TheLongWayHome]

[thrifty]